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Biopics and TV series dedicated to the life of Queen Victoria (1837-1901) in British (co)-productions belong mostly to the nostalgically inclined genre of the historical costume drama, and as such avoid a critical rendering of the negative sides of the global British colonial administration, as was the case with the period of the Great Famine in Ireland (1845-1849). Victoria (2016-) TV series of the commercial British ITV is the first to expound on the topic in the course of the sixth episode in the second season by the title „Faith, Hope and Charity“ (2017). The episode caused quite a public uproar in England precisely because the issue of the Great Famine is not studied in English schools. This essay delves into the ways in which the series represents the beginning of the Great Famine in Ireland and shows that the adaptation of historical facts within the biographic series about Queen Victoria loses critical edge not only due to the generic context (historical costume drama about the Monarchy produced in Great Britain) or the theme of the series (biography of Queen Victoria focused on her character and private life) but predominantly due to the context in which the series has arisen—post-feminist media culture in which Victoria as a queen-mother becomes an embodiment of the ideal post-feminist subject.

This paper deals with the combination of historical research, historical methods and the use of images as a historical source. It focuses more precisely on methodological issues about family photographs in the decades that follow the invention of photography in 1839. We will wonder how these images can be considered as intimate sources. By analysing a family portrait of the Queen Victoria and her four eldest children by Roger Fenton (1854), we will try to understand this picture in serial and put it in relation to other photographs from different families. The second part of this paper will analyse how this portrait of the Queen, besides strong visual norms, can be considered as a place of freedom in the representation of motherhood, childhood and family ties., Cet article s’inscrit dans la lignée des réflexions sur l’articulation entre histoire, méthodes historiques et images. Le propos porte plus spécifiquement sur la photographie de famille, source visuelle appartenant à la sphère intime, dans les décennies qui suivent l’invention de la technique photographique en 1839. Cette étude est l’occasion de revenir sur quelques enjeux méthodologiques, portant notamment sur les questions de la variation des échelles et de l’approche sérielle des images. À travers l’analyse d’un portrait de famille privé du milieu du XIXe siècle représentant la reine Victoria et ses quatre premiers enfants (1854), nous verrons comment il est possible, d’une part, d’articuler cette photographie avec des images issues de différents corpus et, d’autre part, de la replacer dans une trajectoire familiale singulière. L’enjeu est de comprendre dans quelle mesure ce portrait, support de normes formels, peut être considéré comme un lieu de liberté visuelle dans la représentation de cette mère, de ses enfants et des liens familiaux.

Razdoblje novovjekovne europske povijesti u vrijeme vladavine britanske kraljice Viktorije obuhvaća razdoblje od preuzimanja prijestolja 1837. do njezine smrti 1901. Razdoblje je poznato kao viktorijansko doba koje je obilježio nagli razvoj kapitalističke proizvodnje i tržišta, privredni prosperitet i razvoj građanskog društva (građanskog modela obitelji, radnih odnosa, morala). Viktorijansko doba svjedočilo je reformi većine institucija, uključujući Anglikansku crkvu i privatne škole. Žene viktorijanske ere bile su prividno slavljene unutar viktorijanske kuće zbog svoje nevinosti prije braka te umjerenosti u braku. Ženina seksualnost izrazito se nijekala, a česte trudnoće garantirale su njihovu podčinjenu ulogu. U braku je dominantan položaj muža bio i zakonom potvrđen, da bi tek 1870. i 1882. bili doneseni zakoni po kojima se udanim ženama jamči pravo na vlasništvo (Married Women's Property Act) ako je ono stečeno prije ili tijekom braka. Politička prava žene će dobiti tek nakon prosvjeda koje su organizirale sufražetkinje. Pobuda za obavljanje javne službe i na lokalnoj i na nacionalnoj razini bila je vrlo aktivna sila u viktorijansko doba iako je postojala i u prethodnim povijesnim razdobljima. Florence Nightingale reformirala je njegovateljsku službu i mobilizirala organizacije dobrovoljaca. Za vrijeme Krimskog rata (1853.–1856.) organizirala je u britanskom ekspedicijskom korpusu prvu ekipu za njegu ranjenika i bolesnika u ratnim uvjetima. Nakon povratka posvetila se obrazovanju bolničarki. The period of early modern european era in history during the reign of Queen Victoria includes the period from her inheritance of the throne in 1837 to her death in 1901. This period is also known as the Victorian era. The Victorian era was marked by the sudden development of capitalist production and markets, economic prosperity and the development of the civil society (the civic family model, labor relations, morals). The Victorian era witnessed reforms of most institutions, including the Anglican Church and private schools. The women of the Victorian era were celebrated within the Victorian home due to their purity, chastity before marriage and marital moderation. A woman's sexuality was explicitly denied and frequent pregnancies guaranteed their subordinate role. A dominant position of a husband was confirmed by law. Only in 1870 and 1882 were laws for married women regulated garanteeing their right regarding property obtained before and/or during a marriage (Married Women's Property Act). Women in Britain obtained political rights after suffrage organizations fought for them. The pursuit of public service at local and national levels was very active in the Victorian era, even though it existed in previous periods in history. Florence Nightingale reformed caretaker service and mobilized volunteer organizations of which during the Crimean War from 1853 to 1856 she organized the first expedition team in the British Expedition Corps for the care of wounded and patients under war conditions. After returning from the battlefield she devoted herself to the education of nurses.

Celebrating 125 years of the Queen’s Tower, the only remaining part of the Imperial Institute, which was built to mark Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee in 1887, and opened in 1893.

The Crimean War occurred during a formative period of ‘civic publicness’, a term used by John Plunkett to describe the press-mediated public duties undertaken by Victoria and Albert to affirm the monarchy’s popular constitution. The war triggered significant royal intervention into the condition of the army, one of the few sites of royal prerogative. At a time when aristocratic governance was being attacked and the privations of soldiers exposed to an unprecedented extent, the monarchy was keen both to legitimize its role as head of the army and to demonstrate its sensitivity to popular concern for the suffering of ordinary soldiers. This manifested in a highly publicized leaked letter from the Queen expressing her regard for ‘her troops’, the royal family’s visits to wounded soldiers, and the distribution of the Crimean Medal at a special ceremony, which portrayed the accessibility of the Queen through the use of touch. This article explores the symbolism and impetus of these occurrences and assesses the reception of royal intervention in the press. The few assessments of royal influence during the Crimean War have focused largely on Victoria’s personal fascination with the progress of the war and her soldiers. This article explores instead the wider, political significance of the army as extension of the royal family. The Liberal press and artists responded favourably to demonstrations of the Queen’s maternal sympathy for the troops, but my article will point to a hidden struggle to assert the Crown’s authority.

Anhand eines Tellers, der sich im Besitz des Historischen Museums Luzern befindet, lässt sich die spannende Geschichte des Luzerner Hotels Victoria (1890-1921) nachzeichnen, das unter anderem eine wichtige Rolle bei der touristischen Erschliessung des Hirschmattquartiers gespielt hat. Dieser Text versucht, ausgehend von besagtem Objekt, die Geschichte von Aufstieg und Fall des Victoria und einige Grundprämissen der Entwicklung Luzerns zur Fremdenverkehrsstadt im 19. Jahrhundert nachzuzeichnen.